My Hero Romance: Chapter Twenty-One
{| Chapter Twenty-One Katsuko was back in her seat a lot later than she intended, by her return, it was Bakugou versus Uraraka and Toshinori was rather worried about her long absence when she returned, opting to ask her what was wrong. "I'm fine, Toshinori. I just had something important to do." She smiled gently at him before sitting down in her seat besides him. "Thank you for worrying, though." He didn't seem to really believe that. "Are you sure you're alright? You seem a little off...If you aren't feeling well, you can go home, you know." "I'm fine, I swear. I just had to write a letter to my mom. It was a long letter." Katsuko chuckled lightly before leaning her head on his shoulder. "Wait, is that precious Uraraka going against the monstrous Bakugou?! That poor child!" Toshinori knew what she was doing. A change in subject was something he did often and something he had done to her as well. It's not like he had intentionally done it to avoid talking about his problems or anything, he just didn't know how to tell her what was really wrong. He had to think about that before it was too late to say anything at all. He looked over at her, unsure if he should say it now or save it for later. He'd save it for later, when it was just the two of them and no one else. "You write letters to your mom? That's really sweet." He smiled faintly, almost reminiscing over the past. "I wish I would've done that." "You can write a meaningful letter to anyone, Toshi. I used to write them to our soldiers or the senior citizens." Her smile widened. "Or if you've lost a loved one, you can write a letter or letters to them and put them in a box of memories! Though it's your life so you can write letters to whoever you want!" He nodded, thinking about who he could write a letter to when it came to him. Katsuko loved writing letters so why not write letters to her, put them in a box, and give them to her all at once? It would get better if each letter went over each reason why he admired her and then the final letter, the one he'd give her when she was done reading them all, would tell her how much she actually meant to him. It was a wonderful idea! But he had no idea how to properly write a letter that would be up at her standards. "How would you go about writing a bunch of letters for someone who's some much better at it than you?" He hoped she wouldn't get the hint and wouldn't question it either. "It's the thought that counts." She braided her hair before taking it apart, murmuring something when it tangled. "As long as you pour your heart and soul into something, it becomes a meaningful gift. My dad used to give me jewelry every Christmas and it became a tradition. He kept the tradition alive even if he was controlling me. Those gifts meant the world to me and still do." "As long as you pour your heart and soul into it..?" He tilted his head, mapping out the several possibilities for the letters. He'd decide on four letters, three to be placed around her apartment to make her smile, all three of which are numbered. The third will tell her to check under Beanie's cat bed for the last letter. Yes. That would be how he does it, but oh god what if he messes up? What if she rejects the letters and what they stand for? He could feel it all falling apart now as he thought about it! "Is it wrong for me to be so disinterested in this?" She squinted at the matches going on before them. "I feel like it it's wrong to not care about any of this." Toshinori let out a quiet grunt. "The Sports Festival is an important event at UA, but I can't fault you for not finding it interesting." He shrugged loosely, looking at her. "It's kind of boring to just watch and not compete, isn't it?" "Yeah. I want to fight, you know? Test out my abilities, but I never get the chance. I haven't been authorized to go out as an official pro hero yet." She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "I think that's unfair, but whatever. That's why I think we should go out tonight, I won't have anything to do after this and you need a chance to stop thinking negatively about your true self. It's a win-win." "Where would we be going?" He glanced at her before looking at the match that slowly ended. "I doubt you'd know a lot of places around here." "You're right, but hey, there's always Yelp or something. Or we can just order something and stay home to watch weird rom-coms or something." She shrugged. "No, action movies. Those are better than rom-coms." He shook his head, leaning back in his seat. "How about some action romance movies?" She suggested, wiggling her eyebrows. "Come on, plain old action is boring! It's literally your life without me! It's like a cake without all the icing and sprinkles, then I arrived! I'm the icing and sprinkles so buckle up buttercup, we're watching action romance movies." Toshinori never once felt so strange to be told that his life was like a plain cake, and he wasn't even mad or upset! He found her use of the cake analogy adorable, all the more reason to write those letters. "Well, Miss Icing and Sprinkles, we can watch a movie that has both in it." He caved in, nodding his head. He didn't understand why that analogy was so adorable to him, but he did know that there would be more of those in the future. She fist pumped the air and turned to him, dead serious. "American movies or Japanese? I gotta know because I'll have to do some research on some good action romance for Japanese movies." "Doesn't America have a few movies that were good that fit in that genre?" He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, but you're Japanese. I wouldn't want to have you watch something you wouldn't understand." She shook her head quickly. "Subtitles exist, you know. I can read." He snorted lightly. "But seriously though, I don't see a problem with watching an American movie. I like a lot of the Western movies with the cowboys anyways." Katsuko's eyes widened before she giggled. "I didn't take you for a Western movies fan. I mean, technically all American movies are Western movies geographically wise, but still." She poked her nose. "That's really cute, Toshi. Maybe we can visit my Mom and ride horses or something." "Oi, can you two lovebirds shut up? We're trying to watch the match!" The implication that the pair were in love made Toshinori choke back blood that desperately wanted to break free, but he wasn't in the mood for cleaning up a mess. He just wanted to get over this embarrassment and leave it at that. A simple glance to the left and Katsuko looked like her face was getting way too much blood flow. It seemed to him that she could flirt and tease and not be embarrassed but when someone else teased her or made a comment about her love for him, she'd be redder than blood. He could use this to his advantage in the letters. Ah, he could feel it all coming together. Now, he'd just have to write the letters. "Can I borrow some paper and a pen?" "Sure!" This would be hard with her sitting so close, but he'd come to deal with that. She'd get the hint that she's not supposed to look at it anyways. He was genuinely happy and excited to do something so simple. Amazing what one woman can do when she comes into your boring plain cake life and becomes your icing and sprinkles.